Smith 'chilled' over Australia captaincy after Hazlewood leads in Cummins absence

By Sports Desk November 19, 2022

Steve Smith remains "chilled" over the Australia captaincy after acting as deputy to Josh Hazlewood when the bowler stepped in for Pat Cummins in the ODI victory over England.

Skippers Cummins and Jos Buttler were afforded time to rest on Saturday in the second ODI, which Australia won by 72 runs to seal a series victory shortly after competing at the T20 World Cup.

Smith crafted a fluent 94 in Sydney to add to his unbeaten 80 in Thursday's Adelaide Oval clash, while being named as vice-captain to Hazlewood.

In-form batter Smith has only captained his side once – in The Ashes at Adelaide in 2021 after Cummins was ruled out due to COVID-19 – since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal against South Africa.

The 33-year-old insisted he remains relaxed over the captaincy decisions, though, with his focus on helping Australia regardless of his job description.

"I'm not sure if there was a conversation - I just do what I'm told," Smith said.

"I was vice-captain for this game, and helped out where I could. They're looking to build some new leaders, some younger leaders.

"I'm pretty chilled, I'll just do my thing."

Smith declared his innings against England in the ODI opener as the best he has felt batting in six years and reiterated his confidence after another impressive showing in the middle.

"It's my movement, my hands, the time I feel like I've got and just where I'm hitting the ball. I feel like I'm in a good place," he added.

Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc did the damage with the ball against England, combining for eight wickets, and the leg-spinner acknowledged the importance of defeating dual world champions England.

"It's a series win, that's important to us against a good England side," Zampa told BT Sport.

"[James] Vince and [Sam] Billings made it look like it was going to be tough but we got a couple of big wickets.

"It was a hard wicket to start on. It was going to swing early, we felt the wicket was up and down. We knew reverse swing would come in later, and we made it tough for them.

"We're disappointed with how the World Cup went, England deserved to win but it's nice to get this series."

Related items

  • Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies

    Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.

    The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.

    Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.

    Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.

    However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.

    Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.

    Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.

    Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists

    West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.

    Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.

    However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.

  • 'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat 'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat

    Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.

    The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.

    However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.

    Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.

    "No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.

    "I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.

    "I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.

    "Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."

    However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.

    "We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.

    "We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.

    "I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."

  • Sri Lanka breeze to series win over West Indies Sri Lanka breeze to series win over West Indies

    Sri Lanka cruised to a nine-wicket victory over West Indies to seal a T20I series triumph.

    With the series delicately poised at 1-1 heading into the final match on Thursday, Sri Lanka started with intent in Dambulla.

    Maheesh Theekshana (2-19) and Wanindu Hasaranga (2-24) led the charge as Sri Lanka skittled through the Windies' top order.

    Rovman Powell's stubborn 37 and a contribution of 32 from Gudakesh Motie steered West Indies to a reasonable total of 162-8, but it was one well within reach of Sri Lanka.

    Pathum Nissanka clipped seven fours and one six in a 22-ball 37 to get Sri Lanka's chase rolling at pace, before he was bowled by Gudakesh Mottie (1-31).

    Yet the damage was mostly done, with Kusal Mendis powering his way to an unbeaten 68 and Kusal Perera plundering 55 from 36 balls to get the job done with the minimum of fuss.

    Data Debrief: Perera closing in on Sri Lanka record

    Perera is now just nine runs away from surpassing Tillakaratne Dilshan (1,889) as the leading scorer in Sri Lanka's T20I history.

    His efforts, combined with those of Nissanka and Mendis, saw Sri Lanka win for a fourth time in their last six T20Is at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, although this is the first time they have won at the venue in that run when batting second.

    The Windies' miserable record in Asia has continued, meanwhile. They have won only one of their last 11 T20Is in Asia (L10), with that victory coming in the first match of this series. They have now lost 33 T20Is on the continent in total, with only Ireland (35) having lost more.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.